Device for the framing of photographic slides

ABSTRACT

A device for the automatic framing of photographic slides comprises a slide feed way pivoted at the inlet end to be vertically reciprocated by a control cam between a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;feed position&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; in which the outlet end faces into a slide frame holder and a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;retracted position&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; in which the outlet end is displaced perpendicularly to the slide feeding axis. A pusher is arranged to push a slide in the feed position into a frame in the frame holder and to return in the retracted position to behind the trailing edge of another slide located in the slide feed way. Slides are cut with a cutting knife from a photographic film strip as it is moved into the slide feed way by a slide feeder and the slide feeder and slide pusher are operatively connected to one another to work substantially simultaneously.

United States Patent [191 Florjancic DEVICE FOR THE FRAMING OFPHOTOGRAPHIC SLIDES [76] Inventor: Peter Florjancic, St.-Martinstrassel2, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany [22] Filed: Mar. 22, 1972 [21] Appl.No.: 236,899

7 [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 26 1971 Austria. ..2625/71[52] US. Cl. 53/123, 53/252 [51] Int. Cl B65b 39/12 [58] Field of Search.L 53/123, 252

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,009,300 ll/l96l Johansson53/252 X 2,892,295 6/1959 McArthur..... 3,457,697 7/1969 Engelstein53/123 111 3,788,031 [451 Jan. 29, 1974 Primary ExaminerTravis S.McGehee A device for the automatic framing of photographic slidescomprises a slide feed way pivoted at the inlet end to be verticallyreciprocated by a control cam between a feed position" in which theoutlet end faces into a slide frame holder and a retracted position inwhich the outlet end is displaced perpendicularly to the slide feedingaxis. A pusher is arranged to push a slide in the feed position into aframe in the frame holder and to return in the retracted position tobehind the trailing edge of another slide located in the slide feed way.Slides are cut with a cutting knife from a photographic film strip as itis moved into the slide feed way by a slide feeder and the slide feederand slide pusher are operatively connected to one another to worksubstantially simultaneously.

13 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures DEVICE FOR THE FRAMING OF PHOTOGRAPHICSLIDES This invention relates to a device for the automatic framing ofphotographic slides, which are seized by a feeding device moving to andfro and are inserted up to their view-opening into pre-fabricated framesbeing open or being designed to be held apart at least at one side.

Usually these devices are fed by a strip of transparency film which thenis cut off in the device into individual photographic slides which areinserted into the frames. The cutting off may be done before insertioninto the frame which necessitates elements acting as feeding devicewhich are complicated and frequently unreliable like suction cups,forceps or the like. It has also been known to insert the leading edgeof the strip of transparency film into the frame about half the lengthof the photographic slide, to cut off only then the slide and to insertit completely. This procedure too requires relatively complicatedmechanisms with cams, cranks, pincers and the like.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple device with fewmoving parts which enables a high-speed framing without any hindrance.For this purpose the combination of the following two elements isproposed:

a. a movable slide feed way designed to receive at least onephotographic slide each time, the end of the feed way being movable withrespect to the feeding direction of the photographic slide in front ofthe opening of the frame (feed position) or being slidable vertical tothe feeding direction of said opening respectively (retracted position)and b. a feeding device in the form of a push rod lying with its pushingedge behind the trailing edge of the photographic slide during the feedposition of the slide feed way.

This embodiment enables on one hand to satisfactorily guide the slidealso after cutting off i.e. in an essentially straight way and on theother hand insertion of the photographic slide into the frame may beeffected by some simple element only moving to and fro in one direction.

The slide feed way being plane, at least during insertion, thephotographic slide can take up longitudinal forces to such extent thatit may hold apart by itself the opening of the frame with its leadingedge so that spreading elements proper are superfluous.

As a matter of principle the slide feed way may be transversally movablein different ways. It can be movable as a whole transversally to thefeeding direction or may be swung out about an axis arranged laterallyand parallely to said slide feed way. As a matter of principle it wouldalso be possible to construct said slide feed way flexibly, to attach itat its beginning and to bend it at its end in such manner that it movesout of the way of the push rod. An especially advantageous embodimentconsists, however, in pivotally mounting the slide feed way about a pinarranged transversally to the feeding direction near the feed side ofthe way.

In a further embodiment of this construction, it is proposed to pivotthe slide feed way by a square cam which cam, on its part, is reversedby dogs having a steering rod being tightly connected with the push rod.

The feed of the strip of transparency film suitably is done from astationary film guideway, a periodically moved knife is provided betweensaid film guideway and the movable slide feed way, said knife cuttingoff one slide each which already is positioned in the slide feed way.The gradual forward movement of the strip of transparency film may beeffected in a simple way according to the invention by means of a pullrod engaging at its end into the perforations of the strip oftransparency film. The pull rod may be moved by the push rod; a deadtravel has only to be provided, as the stroke of the pull rod has to beequal to the length of the photographic slide, while the stroke of thepush rod has to be greater by the length of the slide as appears moreclearly in the following disclosure.

An embodiment of the invention is hereinafter described in detail withreference to the drawings, the invention, however, not being limitedthereto and the reference numerals having only explanatory character.

FIG. 1 is a very diagrammatic section of a device according to theinvention in feed position,

FIG. 2 is the same section in retracted position,

FIG. 3 is a top plan view to FIG. 2

FIG. 4 is a detail,

FIGS. 5-7 are a somewhat modified embodiment of the invention.

The uncut film 20 is fed to a stationary film guideway 5 by means of aroller not shown in the drawings; said roller essentially comprises twoledgers provided with one lateral slit each and'the strip ofphotographic film only glides in the region of its perforations in theslits while the picture itself remains visible and therefor cannot bescratched.

At the end of the film guideway 5 a cutting knife 13 is arranged, whichseparates the photogrpahic'slide 3 being already positioned in the slidefeed way 4 from the strip of transparency film.

The slide feed way 4v essentially is constructed like the stationaryfilm guideway'S but is pivotally mounted by means of two pins 6. ln feedposition (FIG. 1) its front end is positioned in front of the opening offrame 1 designed to be held apart so that the leading edge of thephotographic slide 2 hits exactly the junction plane of the frame.

The photographic slide 2 is pushed forward by a push rod 7 which ismoved to and fro by a mechanism not shown. Upon, the forward movementthe pushing edge 10 of the push rod thereby is positioned behind thetrailing edge of the photographic slide 2 and presses the latter intothe frame 1. During the retracting movement the slide feed way 4 islifted allowing the push rod 7 to move back under thefollowing-photographic slide.

The lifting of the slide feed way 4 is accomplished by a square cam 17being rotatably mounted about a pin 21. The cam itself is reversed eachtime in the final positions of push rod 7 by two limit dogs 22', 22 of asteering rod 18 being tightly connectedjwith the push rod 7 whereby thelimit dogs 22', 22" butt against a roller 19 mounted at the cam 17. Dueto the small distance between the roller 19 and pin, 21 the reversing iseffected within the smallest stroke. The construction of the cam in theform of a square results in an automatic and safe fixation in the finalpositions without using any additional elements.

The slide feed way 4 is long enough that it may receive two photographicslides one behind the other.

While the front slide 2 is pressed into the frame by push rod 7, agripper 8 mounted at the push rod 7 and pressed against the slide 3 by aspring 9 engages into the perforations of the slide and pulls it up tothe point where it may be seized by the push rod 7 at its trailing edgewith the subsequent stroke.

In order to pull the leading end of the strip of transparency film 20into the slide feed way 4, a pull rod 14 is slidably attached in one ofthe bores of the push rod 7 and engages within the stationary guidewaywith its bent-up end into the perforations of the strip of photographicfilm 20. A fixed dog 15 and an adjustable dog 16 are mounted on the pullrod 14, said adjustable dog 16 enabling a readjustment of the positionof the cutting. It is a particular advantage of the device that thephotographic slides 2, 3 may be observed during their stay in the slidefeed way whereby the position of the cutting may be particularlycontrolled.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the pushing edge has a mid-portion 11in the form of a smooth surface, while its borders have the form of agroove 12 with inclined lateral faces. The result of this specialconsturction is that even bent photographic slides may be safely seized,the grooves thus having a stretching effect; a sliding off not beingpossible owing to the lateral grooves while with continuous groovesthere would be the risk that a more bent photographic slide would buttagainst one of the projecting groove-ends in the midportion.

FIGS. 5-7 illustrate how a safe inserting of the'leading edge of theslide 2 into the frame is obtained with a somewhat modified embodiment,even if the slide should adopt the more bent shape 2'. The'frame itselfis provided with slopes 1 at its feed side which facilitate owing totheir funnel effect insertion of the slide. This construction of thephotographic slide however is not subject of the present application.Two guide pieces 24 are mounted at the holder 23 for the slide 1, whichguide pieces bend a slide 2', possibly being more bowed, in its centerinto the plane of the feed opening. As a matter of principle this wouldbe possible in that both guide pieces are moved towards each other inthe sequence of the feeding in that moment when the leading edge of theslide 2 reaches their region. The same effect, however, may be producedin some simpler way in that the guide pieces 24 are provided with oneslope 24' each. A scratching of the slide cannot occur for the reasonthat first of all only the edge of the photographic slide slides alongthe respective surface while in the further course of the movement theslide is stretched by the frame and therefor no longer butts against theguide pieces. The risk of scratching may further be reduced in that thegliding surfaces of the guide pieces are hardened, chromium plated orthe like as well as polished; by the latter procedure the surfacescannot be scratched while the particular hardness prevents introducingof particles of sand or the like into the surface which particles wouldgrate along the photographic slide.

I claim:

1. A device for inserting a photographic slide into a prefabricatedframe which comprises:

a holder for said frame,

a slide feed way to slidably receive at least one photographic slide,said slide feed way having an inlet end and an outlet end,

means to move said outlet end of said slide feed way alternatively intoa first position in which said outlet end faces the edge slit of saidframe and a second position in which said outlet end is displacedperpendicularly of the photographic slide inserting axis away from saidedge slit,

a slide pusher having a pushing edge, said pusher being arranged toreciprocate to place said pushing edge behind the trailing end of aphotographic slide in said slide feed way when the slide feed way is insaid second position, and to move said pushing edge adjacent said edgeslit when the slide feed way is in said first position, and

slide feed means for moving a photographic slide into said slide feedway,

said slide pusher and slide feed means being operatively connected toone another to work substantially simultaneously.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 which includes a stationary filmguideway having an outlet end, said guideway being positioned adjacentsaid slide feed way so the outlet end of the guideway faces the inletend of the feed way when the feed way is in said first position with asmall opening between said inlet end and said outlet end of saidguideway. I

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 having a cutting knife, the cuttingedge of which in the sequence of operation of the device will enter saidopening between said outlet end and said inlet end to cut film withinsaid opening.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said slide feed way is pivotedat the inlet end upon pins arranged transversally of the longitudinalaxis of the slide feed way.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said slide feed way is causedto move about said pivot pins between a feed position and a retractedposition by a control cam located beneath the slide feed way.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said slide pusher carries asteering rod having a limit dog at each end and said cam carries aroller dog which contacts said limit dogs for movement of said controlcam.

7. A device as cliamed in claim 1 wherein said slide feed way is atleast equal to the length of two photo; graphic slides.

8. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said slide feed meanscomprises a push rod which is reciprocated by said slide pusher and atleast one slide gripper carried by said push rod, which gripper engagesin the feed position perforations in photographic film that is processedin said device.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8 wherein a pull rod is arranged at thepush rod, whose end lies in the perforations at the position of the filmlying in the film guideway to said slide feed means.

10. A device as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the pull rodis arranged longitudinally slidable in a bore of the push rod and bearstwo dogs, one of which is adjustable and the inside distance between thedogs is at least approximately equal to the length of the bore in thepush rod and to the length of the one part of the push rod lying behindthe photographic slide.

11. A device as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the bordersof the pushing edge of the push rod have the form of a groove, whoselateral faces transversally run towards each other, while themid-portion lying between the grooves is put back at least up toapproximately the prolongation of the bottoms of the grooves. I

12. A device as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that two guidepieces are arranged between the openthickness of the photographic slideand smaller than the thickness of the frame.

13. A device as cliamed in claim 12, characterized in that the edges ofthe guide pieces pointing against one another are chamfered so that thegap narrows in feeding direction of the photographic slide. i

1. A device for inserting a photographic slide into a prefabricatedframe which comprises: a holder for said frame, a slide feed way toslidably receive at least one photographic slide, said slide feed wayhaving an inlet end and an outlet end, means to move said outlet end ofsaid slide feed way alternatively into a first position in which saidoutlet end faces the edge slit of said frame and a second position inwhich said outlet end is displaced perpendicularly of the photographicslide inserting axis away from said edge slit, a slide pusher having apushing edge, said pusher being arranged to reciprocate to place saidpushing edge behind the trailing end of a photographic slide in saidslide feed way when the slide feed way is in said second position, andto move said pushing edge adjacent said edge slit when the slide feedway is in said first position, and slide feed means for moving aphotographic slide into saId slide feed way, said slide pusher and slidefeed means being operatively connected to one another to worksubstantially simultaneously.
 2. A device as claimed in claim 1 whichincludes a stationary film guideway having an outlet end, said guidewaybeing positioned adjacent said slide feed way so the outlet end of theguideway faces the inlet end of the feed way when the feed way is insaid first position with a small opening between said inlet end and saidoutlet end of said guideway.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 2 having acutting knife, the cutting edge of which in the sequence of operation ofthe device will enter said opening between said outlet end and saidinlet end to cut film within said opening.
 4. A device as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said slide feed way is pivoted at the inlet end uponpins arranged transversally of the longitudinal axis of the slide feedway.
 5. A device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said slide feed way iscaused to move about said pivot pins between a feed position and aretracted position by a control cam located beneath the slide feed way.6. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said slide pusher carries asteering rod having a limit dog at each end and said cam carries aroller dog which contacts said limit dogs for movement of said controlcam.
 7. A device as cliamed in claim 1 wherein said slide feed way is atleast equal to the length of two photographic slides.
 8. A device asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said slide feed means comprises a push rodwhich is reciprocated by said slide pusher and at least one slidegripper carried by said push rod, which gripper engages in the feedposition perforations in photographic film that is processed in saiddevice.
 9. A device as claimed in claim 8 wherein a pull rod is arrangedat the push rod, whose end lies in the perforations at the position ofthe film lying in the film guideway to said slide feed means.
 10. Adevice as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the pull rod isarranged longitudinally slidable in a bore of the push rod and bears twodogs, one of which is adjustable and the inside distance between thedogs is at least approximately equal to the length of the bore in thepush rod and to the length of the one part of the push rod lying behindthe photographic slide.
 11. A device as claimed in claim 10,characterized in that the borders of the pushing edge of the push rodhave the form of a groove, whose lateral faces transversally run towardseach other, while the mid-portion lying between the grooves is put backat least up to approximately the prolongation of the bottoms of thegrooves.
 12. A device as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that twoguide pieces are arranged between the opening of a holder receiving aframe for a photographic slide and the end of the slide feed way, saidguide pieces leaving between them a gap greater than the thickness ofthe photographic slide and smaller than the thickness of the frame. 13.A device as cliamed in claim 12, characterized in that the edges of theguide pieces pointing against one another are chamfered so that the gapnarrows in feeding direction of the photographic slide.